Hugh O'Flaherty (1898-1963) was an Irish catholic priest who saved about 4000 Allied soldiers and Jews in the Vatican during the World War II. He earned a nickname The Pimpernel of the Vatican.
Hugh O'Flaherty was born in Cahirciveen , Ireland in February 28 1898. He studied theology in Killarney seminary. He was posted to Rome in 1922, finished his studies and was ordained December 20 1925. He stayed to work for the Holy See.
O'Flaherty served a Vatican diplomat in Egypt, Haiti, San Domingo and Czechoslovakia. In 1934 O'Flaherty received the title of Monsignor. In addition to his priestly duties, he was an amateur golfing champion.
In the early years of the World War II, O'Flaherty toured prisoner of war camps in Italy and tried to find out prisoners who had been reported missing in action. If he found them alive, he tried to reassure their families through Vatican Radio.
When Italy changed sides in 1943, thousands of British POWs were released. Some of them, remembering visits of O'Flaherty, reached Rome and asked him for help.
O'Flaherty did not wait for permission from his superiors. He recruited help of other priests, two agents working for Free French and even communists and a Swiss count. One of his aides was British Colonel Sam Derry . He also kept contact with Sir D'Arcy Osborne , British Ambassador to the Vatican. He and his allies concealed 4000 escapees - Allied soldiers and Jews - in flats, farms and convents. One of the hides was beside the local SS headquarters. O'Flaherty coordinated all this and when he was visiting outside Vatican, he wore various disguises.
German occupiers of Rome tried to stop him and eventually they found out that the leader of the network was priest. SS attempts to assassinate him failed. Eventually they found out his identity but they could not arrest him inside the Vatican. When German ambassador revealed this to O'Flaherty, he begun to meet his contacts on the stairs of the St. Peter's Cathedral .
When the Allies arrived in Rome in June 1944, 3925 of the escapees were still alive. O'Flaherty demanded that German prisoners should be treated properly as well. He took a plane to South Africa to meet Italian POWs and to Jerusalem to visit Jewish refugees. He even visited imprisoned SS chief of Rome, Colonel Herbert Kappler, in prison.
After the war O'Flaherty received number of awards, including CBE and the US Medal of Freedom with Silver Palm. He refused to use lifetime pension Italy gave him. In 1960 he suffered a serious stroke during mass and was forced to return to Ireland. He moved to Cahirciveen to live with his sister.
Hugh O'Flaherty died October 30 1963. He was buried in the cemetery of Daniel O'Connell Memorial Church in Caherciveen, Co. Kerry in Ireland. There is also a grove of Hugh O'Flaherty Tress in the Killarney National Park.
O'Flaherty was immortalized by the 1983 film, The Scarlet and The Black, where O'Flaherty was portrayed by Gregory Peck. The film follows the exploits of O'Flaherty from the German occupation of Rome to the entrance of the Allied Forces.
